Euromusic Song Contest 2017
The Euromusic Song Contest 2017 will be the 9th edition of the Euromusic Song Contest. It will take place in Belgium, after Belgium's victory at the 2016 contest in Berlin with the song "Sound of Silence", performed by Tom and Astrid. This will be the first time the contest has taken place in Belgium. The host city will be announced at a later date, although a few cities have shown their interest in hosting the contest. The contest is expected to consist of two semi-finals on 5 and 7 June and the final on 9 June 2017. Presenter(s) 'Carole Weyers' Carole Weyers was born in Anderlecht, Belgium. She began her acting career in Belgium, where she received her training from the well-respected drama school IAD (Institut des Arts de Diffusion). Upon graduation, she wished to further develop her acting skills and attended LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts) in a classical acting. 'Johnny Galecki' John Mark Galecki was born in Belgium where his dad was stationed while serving in the U.S. Air Force. When he was 3 years old, his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he grew up along with his sister Allison (1980) and brother Nick (1982). His father then became a teacher for blind veterans in a VA hospital outside of Chicago. 'Timo Descamps' Timo Descamps was born on May 27, 1986 in Kontich, Antwerp, Belgium. He is an actor, known for Spring (2002), Judas Kiss (2011) and Spangas (2007). 'Kevin Van Doorslaer' Kevin Van Doorslaer has been working in Theatre, T.V and Films anywhere between Europe and The United States. Kevin was born and raised in a Carnival family that goes back 7 generations. At the age of 20 he moved to New York to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse, Stella Adler Studio and Circle in the Square Theatre. Semi-final allocation draw The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals will take place on 31 January 2017. The 37 Semi-Finalists have been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Alpro. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the Semi-Finals Israel, who had been allocated to Pot 6, will compete in the second semi-final as the first semi-final coincides with Yom Hazikaron, while Germany will broadcast and vote in the second semi-final for scheduling reasons. Format 'Preliminary dates' The preliminary dates for the contest were announced on 14 March 2016 at a meeting of Heads of Delegation in Stockholm, with the semi-finals scheduled to take place on 5 and 7 June and the final on 9 June 2017. These preliminary dates were chosen by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to avoid the contest clashing with any major television and sporting events scheduled to take place around that time. However, these dates are subject to change dependent on the host broadcaster, upon approval from a meeting of the EBU Reference Group meeting, which will take place after the 2016 contest. Location For more details on the host country, see Belgium As of 3 June 2016, four cities have expressed an interest in hosting the contest: Hasselt, Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels The mayor of Brussels, expressed on 15 May 2016 his desire for the contest to be held in his city. 'Bidding phase' The Deputy Chief of the host broadcaster, the Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) / Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF) and the Head of Delegation for Belgium, stated on 18 May 2016 that the first organisational meeting for the contest would take place before 8 June, during which the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and VRT/RTBF would go through the technical requirements for the contest, as well as any training required for the contest to take place in Belgium. VRT/RTBF and the Belgian Government formally launched the bidding process for interested cities to apply to host the contest on 23 June. The selection of the host city was scheduled to be conducted in four stages: 24 June – 8 July: Interested cities were formally invited to submit their bids. 8–15 July: A working group within VRT/RTBF and a government-appointed Local Organisational Committee (LOC) headed by Belgian Prime Minister reviewed submitted bids prior to their formal presentation. 18–22 July: Candidate cities formally presented their bids to the LOC. The bids of three cities were shortlisted and handed over to the EBU. 22 July – 1 August: The three shortlisted cities were inspected by representatives from the EBU and LOC to explore their infrastructure and implementation of their bids. A press conference was initially planned to be held during this period to announce the selection results and the host city. Wildcards Two wildcards will be given in each semi-final and one in the Grand Final: * Ukraine - Unused * Poland - Used (switch the song with Montenegro) * Malta - Used (switch the song with San Marino) * Lithuania - Unused * Germany - Unused Betting odds Participating countries On 31 October 2016, EBU announced that 43 countries will participate in the 2017 contest. Portugal will return after being absent from 2016 contest, while Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrew due to the financial difficulties. 'Semi-Final 1' Serbia, Spain and United Kingdom will vote and perform in this semi-final. 'Semi-Final 2' Belgium, France and Germany will vote and perform in this semi-final. 'Finalist(s)' Scoreboard Semi-final 1 Semi-final 2 Grand Final Other awards OGAE OGAE Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Euromusic (more commonly known as OGAE) is an international organisation that was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jari-Pekka Koikkalainen. The organisation consists of a network of over 40 Euromusic Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, and is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit company. In what has become an annual tradition for the OGAE fan clubs, a voting poll ran from 1 April 2017 and ended on 30 April 2017, allowing members from forty clubs to vote for their favourite songs of the 2016 contest. The table below shows the top five overall results, after votes from forty-one OGAE clubs had been cast. Returning artists Other countries Eligibility for potential participation in the Euromusic Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership that will be able to broadcast the contest via the Euromusic network. The EBU has issued an invitation of participation to all fifty-six active members. It is currently unknown whether an invitation has been issued to associate member Australia. Several countries have provisionally confirmed their participation in the contest, while the following countries have made announcements regarding their participation: Andorra – Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA) announced on 19 May 2016 that they would not participate for unspecified reasons. Bosnia and Herzegovina – The Bosnian national broadcaster Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) announced on 28 September 2016 that they would not be taking part in the 2017 contest due to their inability to secure stable funding and sponsorship for participation. The broadcaster was also suffering from financial difficulties due to a lack of legislation that would ensure the continued operation of BHRT. Earlier in May 2016, the EBU had threatened to withdraw BHRT from all member services due to non-payment of debts totalling 6 million Swiss francs (€5.4 million). Luxembourg– While RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg (RTL) announced on 25 May 2016 that they would not participate, the Petitions Committee of the Luxembourgish Government announced on 21 June that they had received a petition calling on RTL to return to the contest. The Luxembourgish Government have decided to debate the proposals set out in the petition, and the possibility of Luxembourg returning to the contest in future. RTL reiterated its intention not to participate on 22 August. Monaco– Télé Monte Carlo (TMC) announced on 19 August 2016 that Monaco would not participate in the contest.